NYU Tisch School of the Arts

On Friday at the historic Radio City Music Hall we celebrated the remarkable Class of 2026 with our annual tradition of Tisch Salute—both a culmination and a new beginning. Congratulations to 1,645 artists, scholars, storytellers, performers, designers, filmmakers, technologists, and cultural leaders who will shape the future of the arts 💜

Thank you to all of our Tisch Salute performers and speakers, including ’s C-Live Band, , and , and remarks from Dean Rubbén Polendo and Honored Speaker Laura Dern.

📸 Justin Chauncey

Graduates, today is your day! Congratulations to the NYU Class of 2026 on their remarkable journey, and welcome to the promising start to a new chapter.

At this morning’s All-University Commencement at Yankee Stadium, student reps Sarah Beth Huntley and Christopher Kosakowski, and banner bearer Leilani Patao joined Dean Rubén Polendo in confirming our newest distinguished alumni of New York University.

To kick the day off, attendees were serenaded by student Luisa Wilson’s moving rendition of the national anthem, under the musical direction of Professor Jeff Peretz.

The American Opera Projects–NYU Tisch Opera Lab has collaborated with the New York Transit Museum on 12 short new works contemplating love, work, and death on the NYC underground.

“The Transit Operas,” the 2026 edition of an annual program from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and the American Opera Projects, will present in two groups of six on May 16-17 at NYU’s African Grove Theatre and May 20-21 in actual subway cars at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn.

NYU News spoke with “Transit Operas” co-founder and Tisch professor Randall Eng about the challenge of making new operas, the educational value of this annual event, and why connecting with community organizations is critical to its success. Visit the link in our bio to read more.

📸 Singers Jordan Rutter-Covatto and MaKayla McDonald during a museum walk-through. Credit Jonathan King / NYU

We are thrilled to introduce Laura Dern as our Honored Speaker for next week’s Tisch Salute to the Class of 2026!

Dern is a three-time Academy Award nominee who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in Noah Baumbach’s film “Marriage Story.” She is also an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA award winner who has touched audiences and critics alike with her moving and heartfelt performances. 

Tisch Salute will take place Friday, May 15, 11 a.m. EDT at Radio City Music Hall and will be available to livestream via the like in our bio.

We are proud to congratulate 9 Tisch alumni and faculty on their appointments to the 101st class of Guggenheim Fellows! Following a rigorous application and peer review process from a pool of nearly 5,000 applicants, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation tapped this year’s class based on prior career achievement and exceptional promise. 

From left to right, top to bottom, this year’s fellows include: Margaret Brown ‘04 (MFA, Kanbar Institute, Graduate Film), Mitch McCabe ‘04 (MFA, Kanbar Institute, Graduate Film), Kyle Abraham ‘06 (MFA, Dance), Silas Riener ‘09 (MFA, Dance), Raymond Pinto ‘23 (MA, Performance Studies), Seán Curran ‘84 (BFA, Dance), K.J. Holmes, Haruna Lee ‘08 (BFA, Drama), and Alva Rogers ‘95 (NYU Tisch).

We had ourselves a night to remember 💜

On Monday evening the Tisch community convened at Cipriani South Street for the 2026 Tisch Gala in support of critical student needs. In Dean Rubén Polendo’s first gala as dean, Tisch celebrated co-CEO and co-founder of Runway, Cristóbal Valenzuela ‘18 (MPS, ITP), and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and professor Suzan-Lori Parks, and raised nearly $2 million for crucial student needs, including scholarship, educational resources, and programmatic support.

We also shared in student performances by the Second Avenue Dance Company, C-Live Band of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and N’Harmonics, as well as a stunning rendition of ‘Wheels of a Dream’ from “Ragtime,” showcasing Tisch student and alumni talent.

“Humans are storytellers, and all of nature tells stories, and when in doubt, let us borrow from
the certainty of stronger things,” said Parks. “When you support the arts, either by being an artist, or by being a patron, you’re supporting the most fundamental of human activities: the magic of being your true self, and then sharing that true self with your community and watching all the lights come on.”

We can’t wait to do it again next year!

📸 Sam Hollenshead / NYU Photo Bureau

In 2007, three years after his brother’s killing by an American drone strike in Iraq, artist Wafaa Bilal developed and performed “Domestic Tension,” a durational work that laid bare the chilling realities of modern warfare. Confining himself to a Chicago gallery for one month, the Iraqi-born artist invited online users to shoot him with a robotically and remotely controlled paintball gun, in effect visualizing the profane anti-Arab sentiment that loomed across post-9/11 America.

Bilal, who is an Arts Professor in NYU Tisch’s Department of Photography and Imaging, has long positioned his practice at the crossroads of performance and technology. Following last year’s career survey of his work at MCA Chicago, along with winning ARTNews’ Established Artist of the Year, we spoke with Bilal about the interdisciplinary approach to connecting his native Iraq to his current home in the U.S.

Visit the link in our bio to read more.

📷 Credit: Wafaa Bilal Studio; Bryan Derballa.

We’re only a couple weeks out from one of our biggest nights of the year! Join us Monday, April 13, at Cipriani South Street as our community comes together to support our students and their creative work, ensuring NYU Tisch continues to shape the future of the arts.

This year we’re honoring two bold innovators who are shaping and reshaping their craft: artist, technologist and co-founder of Runway AI Cristóbal Valenzuela ‘18 (), and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and professor Suzan-Lori Parks ().

The Tisch Gala will help address urgent and emerging scholarship, program, and school-wide needs. Visit the link in our bio to purchase a table or tickets and find out more about this year’s event!